TOKYO, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Japan reported 46,199 daily COVID-19 cases on Thursday, setting a new record for the third day amid the country's "sixth wave" of infections with the rapid spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, according to an NHK tally based on data from local governments.
As of Thursday, Japan's cumulative number of COVID-19 infections has topped 2 million since the government confirmed the nation's first COVID-19 case in January 2020.
Nine people died from COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the accumulative total to 18,470.
In the capital city of Tokyo, the seven-day rolling average of new infections stood at 5,386.1 per day.
The capital set a new record of 8,638 daily COVID-19 cases on Thursday, eclipsing the previous record high of 7,377 on Wednesday.
In order to curb the surging infections, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government on Wednesday declared a quasi-state of emergency for Tokyo and 12 other prefectures.
Infections have dwindled since September last year with the progress in vaccination against the virus. However, the situation flared up again in Japan after cases of community transmission of the Omicron variant were confirmed in late December 2021. ■